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Burning Bright

Author: Tracy Chevalier
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book

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Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

28 reviews
Sales Rank: 3496

Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.1

ISBN: 0007178360
EAN: 9780007178360
ASIN: 0007178360

Publication Date: February 4, 2008
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Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - Burning Bright
•	Audio CD - Burning Bright
•	Paperback - Burning Bright
•	Hardcover - Burning Bright (Thorndike Basic)
•	Hardcover - Burning Bright

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Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...

1 out of 5 stars

Don't take this book on holiday July 18, 2008
Don't make the mistake I did and take this book on holiday. Depressing, shallow and seemingly written by a ten-year old, this will make your holiday memorable for all the wrong reasons. I perservered to the end hoping it would get better, as I couldn't believe it was written by the same author as Girl With A Pearl Earring and The Virgin Blue. Unfortunately it was a complete waste of time and I came away with nothing but the embarrassment of having read some kind of children's book. Two dimensional characters that I learned nothing about, nor did I care. It's as if Tracy Chevalier has got bored of writing but Harper Collins wanted to squeeze one more historical novel out of her. I would have been ashamed to put my name to this book.

For an antidote try reading Notes From An Exhibition by Patrick Gale.

2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing July 3, 2008
This story is set in 18th century London and supposedly revolves around two children and the erudite figure of William Blake. One is struck with a certain authenticity in the way in which Chevalier writes, and there is very little against her quality of writing. The problem lies in her subject matter.

On the back of the cover it explains how the book is "Sparkling with seduction...drama", yet the drama that does come along is brief and shortlived. The action usually happens to her main children characters, but the way in which she describes these rare scenes of action is such that she almost treats her reader as a child.

And there in lies her main fault. The mark of a good story is registered not by how much is said, but by how much is not said, leaving the rest for the reader to make the connection. Chevalier does not leave enough to the reader to work out, and the mind switches off. She has become so absorbed with her characters and eighteenth century London that she has completely forgotten and disregarded her reader, leaving an empty, boring shell of a story to merely pass the time before her next novel.

Disappointing from an author of such quality.

1 out of 5 stars

What a shame June 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I don't usually write reviews but I am half way through this very disappointing novel and I wanted to see if others thought the same as me. CLearly they did. It is contrived and clumsily written, with unrealistic characters. It reads like a children's book but with more adult content. I'm not sure what sort of audience she was aiming this at. Its the kind of thing kids would produce in Creative Writing Club at school. Such a shame as The Girl with the Pearl Earring was great. I'm not sure I can be bothered to finish this or whether to bother with her books again. I suspect she may be a "one book" novelist. Incidentally, who at the Times would possibly have reviewed this as a "visual delight", unless there is a following "but..." which has been craftily edited out! It really was truly, embarrassingly dreadful to be honest. I will be writing to Harper Collins for my money back...

1 out of 5 stars

Absolute Rubbish June 4, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I read ''Girl with the Pearl Earring'' and thought it was very good indeed. I went on to read two other books by Tracy Chevalier and when I was in the airport a few months ago I picked this latest title up. I have just got around to reading it and I had to force myself to finish it. It was boring, childish and it will be the last book that I buy/read by this author. The only thing that interested me mildly was the circus backdrop to the tale - other than that it was almost formulaic, like some ''penny dreadful''. Please save yourself the time and money and don't bother with this book!!

5 out of 5 stars

Very Entertaining May 20, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I agree with a recent reviewer in that I didn't learn much about William Blake from this book, but then again the book doesn't purport to be about Mr Blake and he hasn't got such a starring role as Vermeer in "Girl with a Pearl Earring". Nevertheless, the book made me want to find out more about him and also about the existence of the circus in London at the time.

I love this author, she writes beautifully and I have enjoyed her previous novels. She describes the awe of a family from a village in Dorset arriving in London brilliantly, even then it must have been quite a sight and noisy! The characters are well drawn, easily imagined in your mind's eye from her descriptions and the story rolls along at a good pace, with interesting historical snippets here and there (in particular I liked the origin of the word "bodger").

Another hit as far as I'm concerned!